Bartender: "What're you having?"
Patron: "I'll take a shot and a beerů on second thought, make that a
Curt Hoppe."

Aces & Eights at 34
Avenue A, brings back the glory days of East
Village art with a fun exhibition of evocative, post-pop
photographs by Curt Hoppe in a lively, lounge setting. Who could be more
perfect for the bar's first foray into serious art than the legendary Hoppe,
who as a young artist was one of the most talked about stars of the notorious
"New York / New Wave"
show at PS1 which helped launch the careers of Jean-Michel
Basquiat, Robert
Mapplethorpe and others, back in 1981.

For most of the last twenty years, Hoppe has kept a relatively low profile
steering clear of downtown shenanigans for a lucrative career making exquisite
photo-realist paintings of scenes in the Hamptons. Hoppe has always used
his own photographs for his paintings. Recently turning his camera on city
scenes, he has accumulated a profusion of exciting new images, and began
thinking about exhibiting the photographs themselves. When Aces and
Eights called, it seemed the perfect opportunity to give the new work its
first public test.

This first show of photographs by Hoppe explores two ubiquitous New York
motifs: Mr. Softee ice
cream cones and Happy Face bags ("Have a nice day").
"I'll be honest with you," says Hoppe, "these are depressing
times and I was looking for something that picked me up." Although
the exhibition is entitled "Photographs for Your Kitchen," these
bright, large-scale, color photographs will liven up any room. They look
especially good on the brick
walls of Aces and Eights' spacious, second
floor lounge gallery. Hoppe has printed the photographs himself
exhibiting the same fastidious craftsmanship that marks his photo-realist
paintings.

Aces & Eights' decision to show art was an outgrowth of the spirited
exchanges on EV Grieve's neighborhood blog between then general manager Tom
Michaelsen and East Village
residents concerned about the bar's Upper-East-Side, preppy reputation.
"Our style is sometimes a little different," says Michaelsen,
"but there is much about East Village culture that we share and we're
proud to be part of the community and its history